The arrest and subsequent release on bail of Raj Thackeray and Abu Asim Azmi speaks much for the pusillanimity of the state government.
DNA Analysis
The arrest and subsequent release on bail of Raj Thackeray and Abu Asim Azmi speaks much for the pusillanimity of the state government in the face of naked thuggery and verbal blackmail.
The citizens of the state, and especially of Mumbai, were held to ransom by street rowdies even while the state government was debating the pros and cons of doing its constitutional duty.
The duo should have been dealt on the same day on which they made their incendiary statements; alternatively, if there was a legal hitch in acting against them, the chief minister could have come out and told his people that he was on their side.
Everyone would be protected. Instead, the government remained mum and, by all accounts, would have continued to prevaricate till it was goaded into action by its political bosses. The citizens of Mumbai, Pune and Nashik have already paid a heavy price for the state government’s dithering.
Prevarication and inaction have been characteristic of the Vilasrao Deshmukh government. On more than one issue, the government has dilly-dallied, made promises it has not been able to keep and simply failed to show decisiveness.
Consider this list: the repeal of the Urban Land Ceiling Act, proceeding with the Srikrishna report and now, quick, surgical action against Thackeray and Azmi. Farmers have continued to commit suicide, but there has been no word from the government on what action it intends to take.
Is this stasis because of a political impasse between the coalition partners or something more endemic? Whatever be the reason, there is no relief for the bemused citizen. Over the last few days, for example, the chief minister did not step out and lead from the front by telling each and every Mumbaikar and resident of Maharashtra that they shouldn’t worry because the government would protect them.
Instead, the city was on tenterhooks, worrying itself sick about the fallout of Thackeray’s arrest. Is this any way to run a state? What message does it send out to the investors whom Deshmukh wants to woo?
There have been rumours that the chief minister’s days are numbered - that the Congress ‘high command’ is considering a change. Well, it must make up its mind - and fast. It is becoming increasingly clear that Deshmukh is either unwilling or unable to do his job.
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